European Policies and Attitudes on Renewable Energies and innovative policies towards sustainability – US and NZ Perspectives

On 28 November 2007, an Ecologic Transatlantic Riverside Chat brought together Dr. J. Morgan Williams and Jay Benforado to share and discuss perspectives on European policies regarding renewable energy and innovative approaches towards sustainability. The speakers highlighted the strength of European and German positive attitudes towards renewable energy, while stressing the continuous challenge the transition towards a sustainable energy system still imposes. Opportunities and challenges for innovation and leadership were the recurring central themes of the discussion, which took place between policy makers and representatives from think tanks, business, NGOs and Academia.

Dr. J. Morgan Williams is the former New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Jay Benforado is the Director of the National Centre for Environmental Innovation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In his initial statement, Morgan Williams highlighted the challenge to find solutions for future policies while addressing energy needs and sustainability at the same time. While he sees relative consensus for action in Germany and Europe, an increased development of renewable energy may be difficult if both coal and nuclear power are phased out. In order to achieve a sustainable energy system, severe changes in behaviour and consumption patterns such as increases in energy efficiency are necessary. Awareness raising and empowering people to change their energy behaviour were identified as a main challenge.

Jay Benforado took a more technology-oriented position and quoted Amory Lovins, saying that "the stone age did not end because the world ran out of stones”. Mr. Benforado highlighted the positive effect of the stable and long-term policy framework in Germany, citing examples such as the feed in tariffs that enable large amounts of investments in renewable energy technologies.
 
He noted that the development of renewable energy is also gaining momentum at both the state and local level in the US. For example, a number of US-cities apply Kyoto targets and local emission trading markets are being established. In terms of venture capital invested in the renewable-sector, the US is number one - ranking before Germany - and increasing momentum could soon transform “Silicon Valley” into the most important and innovative region in the field of renewable energy and other clean technology. Further information exchange on initiatives in the USA and Germany (Europe) respectively should be encouraged in order to increase transatlantic co-operation and to learn from best practices in the renewable energy sector. For example, more projects on the university level as well as public-private partnerships could be launched.

However, both standpoints – with one focussing on the need for a technology based revolution and the other demanding a social revolution – were not put in contrast to each other. To cite Jay Benforado, the recent challenge to build a sustainable energy system resembles the task to redesign a plane in flight. Both technology-oriented approaches as well as a change in behaviour and consumption patterns are needed. In this regard, biomimicry, the study and imitations of nature’s best ideas to solve human problems was identified as one role model for learning - with the 10.000 miles non-stop flying Godwit bird mentioned as an example from nature to follow in terms of (energy) efficiency.

The subsequent discussion addressed the following issues:

• Available options for the transition period of phasing out nuclear power and fossil fuels towards a sustainable energy strategy in terms of innovative technologies and behavioural changes.
• The importance of intellectual leadership and innovative ideas instead of a race for economic leadership on green technologies.
• The need for enlarging the range of measures to combat Climate Change to agriculture, referring to New Zealand that will be world first to expand emission trading to all sectors, including agriculture until 2013.
• The challenge of finding meaningful indicators for the measurement of progress and sustainable development beyond the concept of GDP (www.beyond-gdp.eu).